Kalila wins opening game in IBL series four

Kalila wins opening game in IBL series four

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

After losing twice in earlier games, Kalila of Jakarta won 70-
61 over Angsapura Sania of Medan in the opening game of the
Indonesian Basketball League's fourth series at Merpati Sports
Hall here on Saturday.

Kalila easily took a 34-21 lead after the first two quarters
counting on fast breaks led by Kashmeer and Kelly Purwanto.

Realizing they could not match Kalila's quick runners,
Angsapura players tried to slow down the rhythm of play and
successfully closed the gap to 44-43 by the end of the third
quarter.

Angsapura had several chances to take the lead later on in the
fourth but failed to do so, with Marcello and Donald P Marpaung
being frustrated under the net.

Kalila pulled away to 62-55 before ending the game 70-61.

"Our players made a good start but later on they began to
tire, particularly in the third quarter, thus our opponents could
close the gap to only a single-point deficit," Kalila manager
Zainul Hilal said after the game.

Angsapura coach Freddy M. Gorrey said his players did not play
to their strengths against Kalila.

"We knew the Kalila players would create many fast breaks, but
our players were to blame for not stopping them," he said.

"Seventy percent of Kalila points came from fast breaks," he
said.

With the victory, Kalila now has one win and two losses. In
earlier series, Kalila lost 71-59 to CLS Good Day and 82-58 to
Satria Muda Britama.

For Angsapura, the last game was its fourth defeat after it
lost to Satria Muda Britama 71-43, IM Panasonic 63-55, and
Panasia Garuda 59-45 in earlier series. The club won twice
against CLS Good Day 66-59 and Citra Satria 68-48.

In the other match on Saturday, Avian Bimasakti Malang
defeated Citra Satria Jakarta 68-62.

The IBL, which was introduced only in 2003, has 10
participating teams this year's season incorporating 11 series in
15 major cities.

Four teams are also competing in Lampung. Defending champion
Satria Muda defeated Bhinneka Sritex 67-55 and Panasia Garuda
chalked up a 57-55 victory over CLS Surabaya.

The the other two Hewlett Packard Aspac and IM Panasonic
Telkomsel have their turn of resting.